A few days ago I started having trouble with games loading in my Facebook account. At first it was a come and go thing and then today every game refused to load. I was mad. My way of relaxing is to go and play a few games before bedtime and yet nothing I did worked. Restart or reloading FB, did not work. I went into my virus protection program to see what my firewall was stopping and then had to figure out how to get into the settings to check out what programs or being allowed to use the web. First thing I discovered was new updates to the virus program had been installed. Bingo! These updates decided important components of my computer were evil and had to be stopped. So I went through the list trying to pick out the ones that were blocked and set them free by allowing them to run. I wish these programs said what ports they used and the names of the installed components so it would be easier to fix such problems when they happen. What is your thoughts on the inner workings of computers and software? I am sure ....there are stories you could tell.
My advise would be .......get an iPad ! ! Seriously, we have none of those problems and don't even have to have an anti-virus installed on the iPad like we have to have on the computer. I do not play games at all, so I cannot speak to that issue directly, but most of the games on a tablet would be on an app, and should not be affected by any updates you have. Even Facebook is on an app with a tablet; so there is just not any of the same kinds of problems that you have with a computer. I know that iPads are expensive; however there are other tablets that are pretty cheap that would also work for gaming. Amazon just put their Kindle Fire on sale for only $39, and you just can't beat that terrific quality of a tablet for that price ! Amazon also gives people an app free every day if you own a Kindle and have Amazon Prime; so you could add new games that you liked onto the Kindle for free if you have a prime account. I bought my Kindle refurbished on ebay for around $20, and that was a year or so ago when Kindles cost $99 new. I only use it for reading because I use the ipad for everything else; but I love the free books that I can get and the Kindle lending library for borrowing books that are too expensive for me to buy outright.
I have a Kindle Fire and I find it annoys me. It does not feel my fingertip and so I need to buy a new stylist to work it. Otherwise I can tap the screen all day and it won't respond. Any suggestions? lol
I have read if that happens your finger might be too dry but I don't know. I have more problems using a stylus. Only time I have a problem is in a game I play and I have to tap a lot, if I make the screen bigger it works.
The anti-virus in our home computer is also doing its thing without permission. Upon starting up, the anti-virus goes to its mother website to check for updates and when it finds something, it updates the virus list of the program itself. Mind you, it slows down the computer and it takes time for those updates. Worse, updates come every 2 weeks or so. Our only defense is to detach the internet connection when booting the computer so the anti-virus cannot start up the update procedure. And after some time, it is okay to plug in the internet cable. We used to have a licensed Symantec anti-virus software but it expired in 2014 so we installed a free anti-virus called AVG. I think it's good in blocking and cleaning up viruses but the drawback is that involuntary updating.
We always leave the computer turned on overnight since that is supposed to be much better for the processors than shutting it down and then re-starting it every day. We seldom even use the computer since we have the iPads; but it is set to update during the night when we are asleep; so even if we did want to use it, it would not be updating the anti-virus at a time when we would likely be awake and using it. Unless there is a specific reason why you have to shut down your computer at night, @Corie Henson , you could probably let it do the updates when you were sleeping, and then it would be updated and ready to go when you wake up in the morning and want to use it.
@Yvonne Smith, we don't leave any electric appliance running when not in use. That has been our habit and probably was handed down to us by our parents in order to save on electricity. Even the digibox of the cable tv, the plugs are connected to an extension (actually a surge protector) that has a switch. When we turn off that switch, the tv and the digibox are disconnected electrically. With our computer, we never leave it open for it is a waste of electricity which is expensive in this part of the world.
The reason you don't have viruses on your iPads isn't because they are tablet computers. The reason is that they are made by Apple, and run on an OS similar to the Mac OS. Although it is theoretically possible to get a virus on a Mac, you're not likely to. Most Mac users don't use antivirus software. I had one on mine, but the Apple tech told me the they're not necessary and they just use up resources. As a matter of trivia, the very first computer virus was created for an Apple 2, but there are two chief reasons why Mac users don't have trouble with viruses. One, since the majority of computer users, overall, are on PCs, people who write viruses usually write them for a PC. Two, unless a Mac user stupidly sets his computer to install stuff automatically, nothing will install on your Mac unless you tell it to. So they'd have to trick you into installing it. There is a virus circulating that masquerades as an update to Flash, which is pretty much obsolete anyhow. So if a box pops up saying that the version of Flash needs to be updated and asks for permission to download and install the update, a Mac user will first decide whether he cares whether his version of Flash is old, and if he wants Flash, he will navigate to the official Adobe site and download it from there. Anyhow, the reason you don't have a problem with viruses on your iPad is that it's not a Windows machine, not because it isn't a desktop or a laptop. I have both a desktop and a laptop, and I don't have trouble with viruses either.
Just renewed my subcription to ESET NOD32 antivirus. Another quick round of comparing reviews, and the only one I thought came close was Kaspersky. Probably better, but not worth changing. The main thing I was looking for was not slowing down the computer. Previously I also cared about not taking up much space, but that is not as important now. I think ESET has as small footprint. Good for laptops. A man who "fixed" my computer after a virus attack once, when I was using only free antivirus software, recommended McAfee. It was awful. Slowed the machine down to a crawl, and something got through anyway. Of course that was a less powerful pc. Supposedly ESET NOD32 is written in Assembly language. It is supposed to be the closest to machine language, and very efficient. I can never detect when ESET is running, except possibly a few seconds delay after rebooting, and I'm not even sure that's the cause. I have the least expensive package, and it does not include a lot of things that I'll take a chance on. I've been using it for 4 or 5 years. So far, so good. $30/year. I'm *not* pushing it, or recommending it. Just commenting on my experience.
Added: Has anyone had any experience with PCMatic? It's advertised on TV *all* the time. They even cite a neighboring county here in Georgia, that got attacked by ransomware, in one of their ads.
Have you tried cleaning the screen? I have that problem from time to time with my smaller Kindle Fire, although not until recently. I haven't had to resort to a stylus, largely because I don't have one, but I have had to hit it awfully hard to get it to respond. It seems to help when I clean the screen.